1. Field of the invention
The field of the invention relates generally to mammography methods and systems, and more particularly to, a method and system for automatically adjusting the gantry position to the breast height level of a patient.
2. Description of Related Art
Mammography has earned a great deal of significance, as it is a method for detecting signs of breast cancer. To perform a mammography, a patient's breast needs to be aligned properly with the X-ray source and the image receptor. In today's scenario, every time a mammography patient undergoes X-ray examination, technicians performing the operation need to spend significant amount of time adjusting the gantry height to the patient's breast level. This manual process is cumbersome and is subject to error. Further, the positioning depends on the skill set of the technician positioning the patient for imaging. Even if the patient is appearing for a second mammography, the technician needs to adjust the gantry manually based on the patient's breast height level.
The current way of manually adjusting the gantry height not only consumes a major part of the technician's time but also reduces the efficiency of the imaging systems, in terms of optimal usage.
The patient needs to spend time for the procedure, and, in the case of an emergency, the time taken in proper positioning causes delay in the procedure.
Thus, there exists a need to provide a method and system for automatically adjusting the gantry position with respect to the breast level of a patient before a mammography procedure.